title: Age and sexual risk among Black men who have sex with men in South Africa: the mediating role of attitudes toward condoms.
abstract: The results of research linking age and sexual risk among men who have sex with men have been inconsistent. This study assessed the relationship between age and sexual risk among 193 Black men who have sex with men in Pretoria. Older men who have sex with men reported engaging in more frequent unprotected insertive anal intercourse. We examined whether components of Information-Motivation-Behavioral Skills model mediated this relationship. Results showed that (1) older age predicts less positive attitudes toward condoms, (2) less positive attitudes predict more frequent unprotected insertive anal intercourse, and (3) attitudes mediate the relationship between age and frequency of unprotected insertive anal intercourse. We consider two possible explanations for these findings: a developmental trajectory and a cohort effect.
authors.affiliation: HIV Center for Clinical & Behavioral Studies at Columbia University and New York State Psychiatric Institute, USA fk2281@columbia.edu.
authors.forename: Farnaz
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Kaighobadi
authors.affiliation: Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, USA.
authors.forename: Justin
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Knox
authors.affiliation: Human Sciences Research Council, South Africa University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.
authors.forename: Vasu
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Reddy
authors.affiliation: HIV Center for Clinical & Behavioral Studies at Columbia University and New York State Psychiatric Institute, USA.
authors.forename: Theo
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Sandfort
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D001727:Bisexuality / Q000208:ethnology*; D044383:Black People / Q000208:ethnology; D017280:Condoms / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice / Q000208:ethnology*; D018451:Homosexuality, Male / Q000208:ethnology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012309:Risk-Taking; D021841:Safe Sex / Q000208:ethnology*; D013019:South Africa / Q000208:ethnology; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Information–Motivation–Behavioral Skills model; South Africa; age; men who have sex with men; sexual-risk behavior